The Movies Were Wrong
by RiteOnTime
Summary: Petra is a junior at NYU who just wants to keep her life smooth and uncomplicated, which means no serious relationships. Except her first one-night stand wants more than just a tryst. Genderbent college AU. Rating subject to change.


_It should not be this _fucking_ difficult to find something,_ Petra thought to herself as she moved around the room as quietly as possible. She didn't know what time it was, but judging by the fact that it was still dark outside, it was probably best not to wake up everyone in the whole damn building. And of course she didn't have her phone to use as a light because that was outside the bedroom, and she couldn't turn one on because that was too risky.

At least the room wasn't that cluttered and she had a pretty good idea where everything _might_ have landed earlier that night, but she couldn't find her damn fucking shoe. With an internalized sigh, Petra got down on the floor and swept her arms across the carpet. _Why do I have to make a freakin' mess,_ she thought as she moved, _everywhere I go?_ This was taking too long, she needed to get going before she got caught and things got awkward. Sure, Petra liked awkward situations when they were happening to other people, but when they happened to her it was almost guaranteed to be a disaster.

After what Petra told herself had been an eternity, she finally found her other shoe next to the bed post, _of course_, and tucked it under her arm with the other. She stood up silently and crept to the door which, thankfully, was open just wide enough to slip through. The apartment was small; it seemed like they all were in New York, but it meant she had less ground to cover to get out. Petra had a much easier time finding her purse next to the front door than her shoe in the bedroom.

This was how she would sneak out in high school; no easy access to a fire escape for her. Petra opened the front door with practiced ease, but still grimaced at the slightest squeak from the hinges. She felt bad about having to leave the apartment unlocked, but really, what other option did she have? It's not like she could just take a key, especially when she didn't plan on seeing the guy again. _The movies make this look so much easier,_ she thought as she slipped out the door and closed it a little more quickly than she should have.

Once outside, she put her shoes on and checked her phone for the time. Luckily, it was pretty late in the morning and knowing Addison, he would be up within the next few hours anyway. So leaving the door unlocked would be fine, right? She hoped so.

With a huff, Petra walked down the hall towards where she remembered the stairs being. At least it was only one flight; getting up more than that last night would have been a nightmare. Probably would've killed the mood, too.

She exited the apartment building and headed towards the closest subway station. Maybe she couldn't navigate through Addison's room, but the streets of New York were different. Growing up and learning to drive in the city had forced her to become familiar with it. Currently, she was extremely appreciative of that fact; she'd never gone home after a one-night stand before. In fact she'd never had a one-night stand before, which was pretty much the only weird thing about going home so late.

Petra may have turned twenty-one barely a week ago, but it definitely wasn't her first time drinking; there were plenty of parties to go to on and off campus which meant plenty of walks home in the middle of the night. Usually she had company, but the pepper spray in her purse and boxing lessons she'd been taking over the summer were for when she was alone. Tonight might have been unusual, but at least it wasn't uncommon. She hoped her dad would just assume where she was tonight based on precedent.

The subsequent subway ride and continued walk home were uneventful, which Petra appreciated; all she wanted was to sleep. Addison had done an adequate job wearing her out and she couldn't decide if that was good or bad. She didn't really want to think about what had happened though; that would probably require feelings and those were best left repressed.

After what seemed like another eternity equivalent to the one it took to find her shoe, Petra unlocked the front door to her quiet apartment. It was late, almost five am, but she felt she could afford to make a little more noise than when she was leaving Addison's. Her dad and step-mom weren't heavy sleepers, but they had grown accustomed to Petra coming home at odd hours. That was one change she really appreciated about going to college.

Not bothering to do more than take her shoes off, she climbed into bed and hoped her parents would be gracious about letting her sleep in a little. As she moved around to get comfortable, she started thinking about her dorm-mate freshman year and how she never appreciated the value of being able to sleep in. But she stopped her trip down memory lane before she got too angry; Laura wasn't exactly her favorite person in the world.

Instead, Petra started thinking about something else she would rather avoid: Addison. They kind of knew each other from that one class she remembered as being vaguely history related last year, except she didn't know they'd both taken it until last night when Addison told her. There were at least a hundred fifty kids in that class and she didn't always go because attendance wasn't mandatory. _Probably for the best we didn't meet 'til now,_ she thought. Knowing her, there was no doubt they still would've slept together, which meant there would've been opportunities to talk to each other. Awkwardly.

She just wanted to sleep and wake up and make breakfast with her dad and, "Shit," she muttered. His door, his fucking door. All she had to do was lock it and slide the key underneath instead of leaving it unlocked like that. With a groan she rolled over and tried to force herself to fall asleep. What a fucking night.

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><p><strong>AN: Not sure how long this is going to be, but a handful of chapters for sure. This is probably going to be one of the shorter chapters as well.**


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